ScottishPower will reduce its domestic gas and electricity prices on 31st January following the measures recently announced by the UK Government to curb non energy costs. A typical dual fuel household annual bill will reduce by £54, made up of:
- 3.3% reduction in standard tariffs for dual fuel customers – £42 per annum[1]
- Universal rebate to be paid to customers in line with the government timetable - £12 per annum[2]
This reduction will bring the average annual bill for a dual fuel customer paying by Monthly Direct Debit down to £1,199 per annum[3]. This reduction will benefit 2.2 million households.
Neil Clitheroe, ScottishPower’s CEO of Energy Retail and Generation, said:
“Following the Government’s recent announcement on reducing the impact of green and social levies on consumer energy bills, we will be passing these cost reductions on to customers this month. We are pleased that the Government has taken sensible measures to curb these rising costs.
“We recognise that we need to continue to work hard to reduce bills for our customers through offering competitive fixed priced products and comprehensive energy efficiency advice. As part of this ongoing commitment, we will try to avoid any further price rises in 2014[4] but this will depend on whether there are increases in wholesale energy prices or other costs outside of our control.
“We also recognise the importance of delivering quality service. Over the last few years, we have consistently improved our customer service scores across independent surveys. We will continue this progress through improving our systems and web-site, increasing training and continually introducing new, improved services such as our new free phone number.”
ScottishPower Price Change Explained:
1. What are the decreases to duel fuel customer bills?
From 31st January 2014, Scottish Power will be reducing the typical household dual fuel bill on our standard tariff by 3.3%[1], which is equivalent to a £42 reduction based on a domestic dual fuel customer using Ofgem typical annual consumption values of 3,200kWh standard rate electricity and 13,500kWh gas, average across all regions.
In addition to the £42 saving above, all customers will also receive a £12 credit to their energy account funded through the new Government’s universal customer rebate[2]. This will be paid in the autumn in line with the Government timetable. The total annual saving is therefore £54 per annum.
2. Why are you announcing a price decrease?
On 2nd December 2013, the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change announced a package of measures to help reduce energy bills. This included establishing a new universal rebate, reducing the cost of the Energy Company Obligation (ECO) and electricity distribution companies taking voluntary action to reduce network costs. These changes have reduced our costs and these are being passed onto our customers.
3. How will these changes affect customers on fixed price products[5]?
At present, 97%[6] of customers on fixed price products[5] already have a lower bill value than these new standard tariffs. These customers were protected from the rising cost of green levies as they were not impacted by our recent price rise. Once these products reach the end of their term, these customers will then receive the benefit of this reduction.
For the 3%[6] of customers on fixed price products[5], that have higher bill values than our new standard prices, we will reduce their prices on 31st January[7]. This reduction will ensure that the GB average bill for these tariffs at typical consumption will be equivalent to the new lower GB average standard tariff bill. Prices will then remain fixed for the remainder of their contract.
4. Are there any variations by Region/Payment Method?
For our standard tariff the reduction of £42 for the average domestic GB customer, using the Ofgem typical annual consumption values of 3,200kWh electricity and 13,500kWh gas, has been applied to unit rates and is consistent across all payment methods and regions.
For full details of how this impacts your price please visit our Website at www.scottishpower.co.uk
Media information: Simon McMillan - 0141 614 4582 / 07753 622 257
Notes
[1] Based on a weighted average of impacted ScottishPower customers across all payment types, averaged across Great Britain, calculated on Ofgem typical annual consumption values (gas usage of 13,500kWh and standard rate electricity usage of 3,200kWh) and standard prices. Includes VAT at the current applicable rate of 5%.
[2] The universal rebate of £12 is planned to be applied to all electricity contracts by the relevant supplier in the autumn of 2014.
[3] Based on a GB average ScottishPower Monthly Direct Debit standard tariff and Ofgem typical annual consumption values (gas usage of 13,500kWh and standard rate electricity usage of 3,200kWh). Includes VAT at the current applicable rate of 5%.
[4] Applies to standard tariffs. As per our announcement on 24 October 2013, Fresh Start customers will still be aligned to standard prices on 1st March 2014 following our commitment to protect these customers over this winter period.
[5] References to “fixed price products”, includes all fixed and capped price energy contracts and excludes all bundled products (products containing an additional service e.g. Boiler Cover) offers
[6] Based on a comparison of the fixed tariff Great Britain average bill value and the standard tariff Great Britain average bill value for that payment method effective 31st January 2014, in each case calculated on Ofgem typical annual consumption values (gas usage of 13,500kWh and standard rate electricity usage of 3,200kWh).
[7] For the Fixed/Capped price tariffs (excluding bundled products) that will be above our standard tariffs, adjustments, will be made to the Standing Charge and/or Unit rate to ensure that a GB average dual fuel bill, based on Ofgem Typical consumption (gas usage of 13,500kWh and standard rate electricity usage of 3,200kWh) will be no more than the GB average standard annual bill equivalent.